


The Lioness

by scarfy36



Category: Trust (TV 2018)
Genre: BAMF Women, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Italian Mafia, Male-Female Friendship, Organized Crime, Post-Canon, Prostitution, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26137777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarfy36/pseuds/scarfy36
Summary: “It’s Ada. Maria came back with a black eye tonight.”“Did you get his name?” Gabriele asks.“No name, but I know where he’s staying.”“What do you need me to do?”
Relationships: Primo Nizutto/Gabriele (Trust)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	The Lioness

**Author's Note:**

> I have fallen down the rabbit hole of Trust and these minor characters we expanded and gave complex backstories to. 
> 
> Thank you to the Primodonnas for spitballing this idea with me and helping me work out the details!

Ada counts the night’s takings in the back room of the club. She bids each of the girls a good night when they come by to drop off her share of their earnings. She also takes the opportunity to give them a once over and check how they’re doing. Most nights the girls are fine, happy to be finished working and heading home. She knows their tells, knows that if Sofia is hanging around the club at the end of the night, it means one of the regulars needs talking to. 

Ada has put a lot of work into building her reputation. It was rough going, at the start. People didn’t like that a woman was in charge, but Ada soon showed them that she was more than capable. Of course, it helped that her best friend had just become Don and she now had an entire mafia to enforce the girls’ protection. Word spread over time, and soon everyone from Rome to Calabria knew not to mess with Ada Santarelli’s girls.

Most importantly, though, is that her girls trust her to keep them safe. She doesn’t force them to work for her, they choose to come to her because they know working for Ada is the best way to survive in this business. They trust her, which Ada is very glad for when Maria comes in sporting a black eye and a split lip.

Ada wants to rage and scream to find out who did this, but she knows that a soft touch will be more effective in this situation. She guides Maria to the couch in her office, offering her a box of tissues which is gratefully accepted. Some girls like being held after a bad night, but it could trigger bad memories for others, so Ada keeps her distance. Maria will initiate contact if she wants it. Sofia is hovering by the doorway, visibly distressed at seeing her friend in this state. 

“Sofia, could you get us some water?” Ada asks. Sofia looks grateful for something to do and disappears out into the club.

“Maria,” Ada begins, keeping her voice gentle. “What happened, honey? Who did this to you?”

“I think he was from out of town, I didn’t get his name,” Maria starts, voice shaking. “We went back to his hotel, the one on Via del Mascherone - it was room 12, I think - and he started getting rough. I tried to leave, tried to tell him I don’t do that and he--” Maria cuts off with a sob and leans in to press her head into Ada’s chest. Ada wraps a supportive arm around her, rubbing soft circles onto Maria’s back.

“I can see what he did next,” Ada finishes for her. She makes eye contact with Sofia, who has returned with the water and seems to have collected herself. “You’re sure you don’t know his name?”

Maria shakes her head and takes a drink of water.

“I saw them leave together,” Sofia adds. “He was a big guy, maybe 6 feet and heavyset. Short hair, dark with a stupidly precise part down the middle. That’s all I remember.”

“Thank you, Sofia. Can you get Maria home?”

Sofia nods and offers her arm to Maria. Ada watches them leave the club, thinking. She could offer one of Primo’s men to walk them home, but being around men is likely to be the opposite of comforting for Maria.

Maria was the last girl to come by for the night so Ada closes the door to the office and sits down heavily at her desk. She allows herself a moment - just a moment - to feel the sadness threatening to overwhelm her. She is angry at the world, at the men who think they can treat women like this and get away with it. She shakes her head to clear it and dials the familiar number to Primo and Gabriele’s house.

“Hello?” It’s Gabriele that answers. He sounds tired and Ada wonders if she woke him.

“It’s Ada. Maria came back with a black eye tonight.”

“Did you get his name?” Gabriele asks. Ada thinks she can hear the sounds of him getting dressed over the phone line. 

“No name, but I know where he’s staying.” She relays the information from Maria and Sofia.

“What do you need me to do?”

\--

The desk clerk on duty is Matteo, one of Gabriele’s dealers, so getting the spare key to the room the john is staying in is as simple as asking. He finds out the man checked in under the name Roberto Rossi, that Matteo was busy checking someone else in when Maria left, and he hasn’t seen Roberto leave his room since he returned with Maria.

Gabriele thanks Matteo for his help and makes his way up to Roberto’s room. The lock clicks quietly and he enters the room, switching the light on to wake the man.

“Who- what are you- get out of my room!” Roberto splutters. 

Gabriele wastes no time, stalking over to the bed to throw the man to the floor. He grabs a fistful of Roberto’s shirt and lays into him, careful not to hit too hard. He needs the man alert enough to understand what Gabriele says next.

Gabriele turns Roberto’s head from side to side, admiring his work in the light.

“Maria came back with a split lip, a black eye and bruising down the side of her face.” He lands a carefully aimed kick to the man’s side. “She was favouring her ribs, too.”

“I barely touched her!” Roberto exclaims. Gabriele can’t help but kick him again for lying like that.

“I’m holding back, because Ada asked me nicely. If I ever hear you’ve been rough with a woman again, you won’t get off so easy.” He’s made his point, so Gabriele leaves the man cowering on the floor and closes the door behind him. He bids Matteo a good night and heads home. 

While Gabriele was away, Primo returned from whatever business it was that kept him out so late. His  _ gattino _ is already asleep, sprawled out across the bed. Gabriele washes the blood off his hands in the bathroom and strips down to his underwear before slipping back into bed, trying unsuccessfully not to wake his lover.

“Where were you?” Primo mumbles sleepily. Without opening his eyes Primo’s hands find Gabriele’s arms and pull him closer.

Gabriele presses a soft kiss to Primo’s forehead. “Ada needed a hand dealing with a john, I’ll tell you about it in the morning.”

Primo hums in acknowledgement and tucks his head into Gabriele’s chest, already on his way back to sleep.

\---

_ (that’s all folks) _


End file.
